LOS ANGELES — UCLA Anderson School of Management has appointed George Geis associate dean and director of the Executive MBA Program (EMBA) effective July 1, 2003. The EMBA program is an intensive two-year educational experience conceived to meet the needs of senior-level executives as they pursue their maximum potential in managerial leadership.

“We are very pleased to have Dr. Geis accept this crucial role,” said Bruce G. Willison, dean of UCLA Anderson School of Management. “His extensive experience with the program and his personal passion for its mission make him an ideal candidate to lead UCLA Anderson School's Executive MBA Program into an even more successful future.”

Designed for professionals who have demanding jobs and high levels of responsibility, EMBA program participants include doctors, engineers, scientists and financial executives. The program offers a learning model that emphasizes an integrated, cross-functional approach to management, proficiency in analytical problem solving and development of strategic leadership skills.

Dr. Geis, an adjunct professor of information systems at UCLA Anderson School, has taught in the EMBA program for 15 years and received one of his four Outstanding Teacher of the Year awards from EMBA students. He noted that the EMBA program has traditionally enjoyed the enthusiastic participation of many of the school's senior faculty, a tradition he will work to ensure the program retains.

“One of my major objectives for the Executive MBA Program is to continue to build its rigor and relevance,” said Dr. Geis. "Recruiting and retaining the finest faculty is a key component in that effort.”

Along with his new responsibilities, Dr. Geis will remain one of the program's teachers with a course in financial and market modeling, which incorporates his expertise in the use of business partnerships to maximize profitability. Much of his recent research focuses on using systems to visualize the patterns of interrelationship at work in order to understand complex market forces. In addition to dozens of professional articles, he has published six books, including his latest, “Digital Deals: Strategies for Selecting and Structuring Partnerships.” He has also done considerable consulting in the field.

As an important part of his new role, Dr. Geis will oversee the field study portion of the EMBA curriculum, which is an extensive consulting project with a client firm as the final phase of the program. The business contacts Dr. Geis has developed through his own consulting work and his prior experience with EMBA field study will help in locating the most meaningful corporate clients to further the career goals of individual EMBA students. Enhancing their career development opportunities is a vital element of the program. Their sponsoring companies benefit as well from the immediate real world applicability of their employees' growth in skills and knowledge.

Though EMBA is a part-time program, Dr. Geis noted that it provides an experience that is as close as possible to a full-time MBA program. This is accomplished by giving the students a full-time immersion in their coursework for two days (Friday and Saturday) every other week in residence at UCLA Anderson School. Since the students are working adults, often with families, the EMBA staff provides extensive support for a wide range of logistical details, including meals and lodging, as well as books and other necessary course materials.

Dr. Geis is particularly proud of the high caliber and diversity of participants attracted to the EMBA program. He considers it a positive signal that this year's incoming class has a high percentage of women, 27 percent as compared with 18 percent last year. It is a trend he hopes not only to maintain but to build upon as well.

Understanding the enormously valuable network these EMBA students provide for each other, Dr. Geis intends to encourage them to also engage the other constituencies of the school with a desire to add value as well as derive value from their association. It is an attitude he is happy to say that many EMBA students already have, supporting UCLA Anderson School's well-known focus on teamwork.